I am so nervous at the moment. I just threw my first solely completed costume part in the washer all finished. My mother usually stole my projects and finished them when I wasn't looking, she is a sewing fanatic. Just nervous that the skirt for my Fuko Kuzuha costume will fall apart in the wash. I stitched everything nice and tight... but it's my first costume and god I'm worried.

I've work really hard on this skirt. Learned a whole lot about what to do and what not to do. Also figured out how to easily do button holes... also learned my machine randomly decides to hate my guts.

Word of advice: Unless the fabric is dry-clean only, I suggest washing everything before you sew with it to make sure that it doesn't shrink of anything. (You might already do that, but its a good thing to do IMHO ^_^)

Usually a costume won't fall apart in the wash.. think about your clothes. ^_^ They were all made on machines/hand-sewn as well and they hold up fine... I don't think you need to worry n.n

For future reference, if you're worried about costumes coming apart in the wash, the gentle cycle is a miracle (I make my costumes by hand, so they're extra fragile... I'm confident with the gentle cycle of my washing machine, and as paranoid as I am, that's a good thing. ^_^) If you're extremely nervous about washing, you can always hand-wash your costume.